Lara Croft: Relic Run

One of Lara's greatest adventures yet.

Lara Croft has seen some excellent adventures in the last couple of years. Some might say they've even outperformed her classic original games in many ways, and I'd be hard-pressed to tell them they're wrong. Square Enix's latest addition to the already fantastic franchise is Lara Croft: Relic Run, an endless runner dressed up in much more eloquent clothing. It's simple without being overtly so, yet challenging enough to keep fans of the classic format happy. In short, it's definitely one Tomb Raider spinoff you'll want to try out.

Welcome to the Jungle

Lara Croft: Relic Run is a bit different than most endless runners in that it's behind-the-back rather than side-scrolling, so you don't have as much time to make decisions about where to tap or swipe before you're taken out. Lara will make her way through the familiar locales of her tomb-raiding past, over bridges, through ruins, and everywhere you'd expect her to be traipsing. It's up to you to keep her out of harm's way as you tap the screen to take out the occasional bad guy, collect special relic pieces, and avoid the obstacles placed in your way. And it's not always easy to deal with at first, as the frenetic action quickly ramps up before you've even played for a minute or so. You'll fail, and often.

Luckily, you get unlimited replays and relatively quick respawn times to ensure that even when Lara falls, all you have to do is start over and start plugging away again. There's no energy system to keep you from trying and succeeding, and that's one of Relic Run's greatest strengths in itself.

Run Run Run, As Fast As You Can...

Relic Run is the type of endless runner you're going to want to invest a lot of time in before you can say you're actually good or even decent at it. When you've made it far enough to reach vehicles and some of the other goodies sprinkled throughout, you feel as though you've accomplished something spectacular. But failing isn't as terrible as it could be here. You can just start again. In fact, if you die, you can choose to use special items to revive Lara right where you died, or you can start over from the very beginning. You can purchase these things with in-game currency and other items as well, like upgrades and weapons, but there's never any concrete need to do so unless you're enjoying the game so much that you can't stop and need constant continues. It happens!

There's plenty to see within, so spending a little cash to continue if your skills aren't quite up to snuff isn't unheard of, and the pricing is quite fair for what's a free game in the first place, so players who get a lot out of the title probably won't mind spending a little extra for the insurance that they won't have to start from the beginning yet again.

...You Can't Catch Lara, She's Too Fast, Man!

If you're a longtime Tomb Raider fan or just need a new, free title to mess about with, you can't go wrong with this selection. Whether you're traipsing through the jungle on foot or facing off against a T-rex, there's a surprising wealth of content here to keep you going. Give it a try!